1. God And Control
The Origin of Control, Control In God,
Making Control Sacred, A More Humane God, The Inevitability of Horizontal
Reality, Setting God Free, Others On Control, What Is Control?
2. Why Start All
Over Again?
Fearing Change,
Using God, Hierarchy, The Destructive Effects of Control, Power holders and
Control, Ideas Influence Behaviour, God As Predator, Taking Back Control,
Everyone a God Specialist, Humanity Revealing God
3. The Origin of
Control- Part 1
The Animal nature of
Hierarchical Relating, Its Definitely Not Human, Ongoing Animal
Influence in Human Mentality, Knowing Our Origins, Animal Relating and
Animal Existence, Wandering Around, Settling Down, Views of
Civilization, Domestication
4. The Origin of
Control- Part 2
Hierarchy in
Hunter/Gatherer Society /
Another View of Domestication / One More View Of
Domestication / The Origin of Male Domination / Kings And Queens /
Centralization / Specialization
5. The Mentality that
Shaped Human Civilization
Julian Jaynes &
Bicameral Mentality / Bicameral Minds / Voices in Our Heads / From
Visual to Verbal Control: Language / The Institutionalization of
Vertical or Animal Relating / The Origin of Controlling Male Gods / The
Animal in God / Men At The Top / Monotheistic Patriarchs / Summary Of
Jaynes / Emerging Humanity In Conflict With Vertical Institutions / Law
as the New Mechanism of Social Control
6. When We first
Became Truly Human
The process of
emerging human mentality / The Break with Animal Domination / Human in
an Animal World / Longing for Past Securities
7. The Emerging Human
Person
The Centrality of the Human
Self or Person / The Human Self as the Standard for all Human Organizing
/ Some Human Criteria / The Basic Nature of the Human Self / Body, Soul,
and Spirit / What the Self is Not / Human Loyalty
8. What It Means To Be Human
The
Truly Human Person, Criteria
for Human Relating and Existence,
Relationships-Relationships-Relationships, Freedom From Control, Personal
Freedom And Others, Freedom And Uncertainty, Horizontal Humanity-
Equality, Love Is A Horizontal Emotion, Growing Diversity, Efficiency
Violates Diversity, Structuring To Support Emerging Humanity, The
Revolution For Freedom
9. Violating Humanity
With Control, Part 1
Vertical relationships deny people the
possibility of fully humane expression by returning them to controlling
forms of relating very similar to those of our predatory animal past.
Control is quite simply a return to animal-like existence. There is
little room for human growth or progress in such relationships.
10.
Violating Humanity With Control, Part 2
Violence In Reaction To Control. This
will occur, they argue, because of the threat of destruction to the self
and because of the loss of self-esteem experienced in
dominant/subordinate relationships. This argument concerning violence is
based on the reasoning that people are similar to animals in emotional
makeup and if there is any threat to the self then people will not be
able to control their emotions with reason.
11. Shaping A New View Of God
Rethinking
Traditional Views of God, Yes
There Is A God, Distortions in the Idea of God, God Promoting Humanity,
Jesus Revealed a Supremely Humane God, Emerging Humanity Informing Our
Understanding of The Transcendent, Every Person A God Specialist
12. Redefining God As Human- Part 1
God
has always been humane, Revealing God As Horizontal, The Vertical Always
Dehumanizes- Brinsmead, Brinsmead on a Free God, God Blessing and Cursing,
The Process Of Co-Creation With God, Fighting Freedom With Institution And
Ideology, An Institutional and Religious God- the Ultimate Enemy of
Freedom, Controlling Children, A Free God and Suffering
13. Redefining God As Human- Part 2
A
God Who Plays, Excessive Organization of Life, Setting God Free, Diversity
In Life, Building To Destroy Life, God Outside The Building, A Few More
Ideas About A Human God, Moving God in New Directions
14.
Rescuing God From Religion- Part 1
Jesus Subverting Control, (Jesus) Subverting
Selfishness, (Jesus) Subverting Consumerism, The Institutionalization of
Jesus, How Religion Distorts God, Law Control of Behavior, True Human
Relating, The Stiffening Effect of Law, Right and Wrong, Brinsmead on Law,
Law Inevitably Comes Before People
15.
Rescuing God From Religion- Part 2
The Fear Of Freedom, Law and Play, The
Bible as Law, Further Comments On Law, Sacralization
16. Freedom and
Responsibility- Part 1
Knowing the human God and the purpose of life
in the universe with this God does not require special training or
insight. God has made his intentions very clear in persons like Jesus.
The human God simply wants people to be human.
17. Freedom and
Responsibility- Part 2
Aggression In The Climb Up, The vertical always
corrupts. In regard to aggression
and the hierarchical status or position that it attains, it is important
to note some valuable research being done on this ancient animal drive.
18. Freedom and
Responsibility- Part 3
Unlimited Individual Control of Wealth, Of the
approximately 6 billion people on earth, 4.5 billion earn on average
only $1,000 per year. 1.3 billion people earn less than a dollar a day.
19. Freedom and
Responsibility- Part 4
In regard to the mad lemming-like rush of
consumerism in western and other societies, it was interesting to note
the following insightful comment in an article on the growing movement
of people escaping from materialism to enjoy an alternative lifestyle.
20. Crushing the
Human Spirit in Vertical Structures
At this point we are going to take a look at
the contours of a more human social order. Some people may wonder what
social order has to do with a new view of God.
21. The Shape of
Truly Human Social Orders- Part 1
It may seem arrogant to suggest such
profound change as a new social order. But this study is just one among
many strikes at contemporary social orders where control is still
prevalent.
22. The Shape Of Truly Human Social
Orders- Part 2
Community also produces a very real
tension with general conceptions of personal freedom. It appears to be
extremely difficult to find a satisfactory balance and maybe it is a lifelong
struggle and learning process that simply can not be avoided or
alleviated in any way.
23. Alternatives to Vertical Relating
and Control- Part 1
There have been innumerable attempts
to reform the institutions and organizations of modern nation states- to
humanize them. These have often been efforts to increase public or
member participation in decision making processes but far too often
these efforts amount to little more than what is known as tokenism.
24. Alternatives
to Vertical Relating and Control- Part 2
While Iannello gives general
principles for more human decision making processes, Boothroyd provides
a highly practical and detailed step by step method for human
cooperation or relating, decision making, and problem solving.
25. Joshua Versus Jesus
The
Historical Jesus (Joshua), Poverty
And Powerlessness, Nolan On The Real Jesus, Joshua on Prestige, Joshua on
Power, Building To Protect Ourselves From Humanity, Joshua Subverting
Civilized Economy, Joshua Subverting Religious Oppression, Fighting
Freedom and Humanity With a Religious Jesus, The Courage To Be Human
26. Angry gods and
Lonely People
God's
Scandalous Generosity, An
Angry God and Traumatized People, The Cruel Myth of the Fall, There Never
was a Fall, All reality exists in God., God is not Offended by Human
Failure and Imperfection, Don't be Like the Older Brother, Relax and enjoy
God's Love
27.
The
Destructiveness of Free Enterprise Capitalism
Recent years have seen the Western
societies pushing the rest of the world to adopt free enterprise
capitalism. Some overly excited academics caught up in the joy of the US
triumph in the cold war, declared the end of history had been reached
with the victory of the free enterprise system. The whole world would
now enter free enterprise heaven.
28. It Gets Much Better
The
Big Why, The Limitations of Science, The Mystery Beyond, All For Love, All
we see is because of God's love, Our Physical Reality Is Only Energy, A
Return Of The Spiritual, Freedom In Love, The Necessity of Chance,
Surprise/Accident/Suffering, Dying is Living, God's Realm or Reality, No
Heaven Above/No Hell Below, What Is The Standard?, A Horizontal Reality,
God Is Not Religious, We All Mimic God, Unity, Eastern And Western Views
Of Unity With God, A Dynamic Open Future, God's Great Party
29. A Brief History of God
It all began with an explosion, Out of God,
God and Creation, Order and Freedom, Distorting Reality,
Angry Gods, Nasty Gods Make Nasty Societies
From the series
"Creating A Horizontal God", Copyright, W. Krossa.
Source: http://home.istar.ca/~wkrossa/articles.html (not
available)
Wendell Krossa
formerly worked as a missionary in Southeast Asia where he was involved
with rural development projects. His experience led him to abandon the
religious approach to spirituality for a life oriented approach. He
returned to Canada to pursue undergraduate and graduate studies in
poverty and development issues at Simon Fraser University and the
University of British Columbia. Currently, he writes for the Internet
magazine Daffodil.ca.
He can be contacted at
wkrossa@shaw.ca
Did you like the
"Horizontal God" series ?
Now you can read the main points, new
insights, and more,
in the book:
‘Taking
The Animal Out Of God: Re-evaluating the inhumanity at the heart of
Western religion’
by Wendell Krossa
Taking the animal
out of God
Description
The author
presents a unique new perspective on the historical development of
religion and views of God. He traces the process through which the first
practitioners of religion projected some of the most primitive features
of their existence into their earliest mythology and views of deity- a
band orientation, exclusion, elite domination, and destruction of
enemies.
Western
religious traditions have continued to employ these inhumane features to
shape all succeeding perception of spiritual reality. They have done
this through such doctrines as the separation of humanity from God, the
election of a special people (and rejection of the non-elect), divine
control of life (a ruling patriarch), eternal damnation, and blood
sacrifice to appease divine anger. These primitive mythological themes
have rendered the Western God more animal-like than human. They have
also inspired endless religious intolerance and violence because people
have always tried to replicate their understanding of divine reality in
their own societies.
It is now
inexcusable to continue to protect such inhumanity under the canopy of
the sacred. If we are to progress toward the more humane future that all
of us want, then we will need spiritual ideals that they are genuinely
humane.
Fortunately, over the past few millennia the human perception of
transcendent reality has continued to develop and advance. We have come
to recognize that God or the spiritual is supremely humane and this has
led to a more inclusive approach to spirituality. We now understand that
God is to be known in terms of the common human spirit that is shared by
all humanity and this means that any expression of human decency or any
promotion of good in life is a manifestation of the transcendent reality
that sustains all things. It also means that God or the spiritual is to
be known and experienced in terms of the ordinary, the mundane, and
sometimes even in terms of what religion has called the profane. Our
understanding of the humane nature of spiritual reality has led us to
realize that in the search for meaning and purpose simply being human is
enough.
For more
detail see Extended Description below...
Extended Description
Many of us in the Western world have been taught to
view life in terms of such themes as the separation of humanity from the
spiritual realm or God, the direction of life as regression from an
original state of perfection, threat of future disaster, and punishment
for personal failure. These themes flow from a heritage of ideas known
as Fall/salvation mythology, which is the core mythology of the three
Western religions- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This mythology has
profoundly distorted our perception of the humane nature of reality and
the progressive direction of life. And for the past three millennia it
has traumatized human minds with unnecessary fear and despair. Fall
mythology also portrays life in terms of a dualism where a good power
and an opposing evil power are engaged in cosmic conflict. This dualism
has been further refined in the belief that there are chosen insiders
and rejected outsiders that represent the greater invisible powers and
are engaged in a proxy war on earth. It is a perspective that has driven
people to endlessly convert, conquer, and destroy one another in the
name of their differing gods.
The author, Wendell Krossa, employs a variety of disciplines to trace
the origin of this mythology. He argues that the central themes Fall
mythology reflect the basest drives of a primitive past- the drives to
exclude, oppose, dominate, and destroy. These drives have been at the
root of human enmity and conflict since the beginning yet their
continued expression in human society is encouraged because they are
protectively enshrined in mythologies that are believed to be divine in
origin. And they are expressed most graphically in the Western view of
God. Unfortunately, the embodiment of these features in God has
prevented many people from recognizing that the sustaining Life behind
the universe is supremely humane.
Aside from being inhumane, the core themes of Fall/salvation mythology
are no longer credible as explanations of life. For instance, the
sedimentary record clearly reveals that death existed long before fully
formed humans ate some forbidden fruit in an ancient Eden. This
contradicts the central point of the Fall myth which states that death
entered the world when those first humans sinned. It is plain evidence
that there never was a Fall or separation of humanity from God.
Corollary to this, there is no evidence that God is angry with the human
struggle to overcome an animal past in order to live more humanely.
Therefore, there is no need to appease an upset deity with violent human
sacrifice. A broad array of evidence points to the fact that the
religious view of God as holy, angry at sin, and bent on punishing
humanity is a fundamentally defective view of the spiritual realm.
Fall/salvation mythology no longer provides (and never did) any credible
basis for meaning or hope.
The modern scientific movement has been helpful in liberating minds from
the more irrational and destructive elements of these ancient
mythologies. It has been immensely useful in helping us to appreciate
the trajectory of life as emerging, progressing, and ever-improving.
However, science has sometimes fallen prey to its own form of extremism
in advocating a strict rationalist approach to reality and declaring
that evidence of randomness means that life must be understood in terms
of meaninglessness and no more. In this viewpoint any recognition of
intelligence or purpose in the development of the universe is dismissed
as mere wish projection. The rationalist approach does not properly
respond to the human consciousness of transcendence and the human search
for meaning.
The author argues that both religion and science have failed to help us
understand that the universe story manifests a supremely humane spirit
that is rising through humanity to move life toward a better future. The
emergence of human consciousness and its struggle for a better existence
is the central element of this universe story. He also presents the
liberating insight that the Transcendent is not a religious reality but
is to be known in terms of mundane human existence. Ordinary human
response and activity has always been the primary arena through which
transcendence is manifest in the universe. This liberating truth renders
religious mediation entirely unnecessary. Atheists, pagans, and
believers all share the same free access to the spiritual.
This book offers a new look at the true meaning of spirituality as the
expression of the common human spirit. This spirit is moving in an
entirely different direction from the religious spirit. The author
outlines the historical process through which religion and religious
gods were developed to embody the basest animal drives and how these
self-created gods have long been employed to validate inhumanity toward
others. He argues that to properly understand the origins and nature of
religion we need to take into account the discoveries of disciplines
such as evolutionary biology. These disciplines enable us to understand
that the darker themes of religious mythology are expressions of an
animal inheritance in human brains. This primitive neural system has
influenced endless religious intolerance, hate and violence. The author
presents a unique perspective on the origin and development of religion
and views of divinity. He also presents material on more humane
directions for human spiritual understanding.
Taking The Animal Out Of God covers
the following areas:
1. The search for a humane God- the inhumanity at the core of Western
religion.
2. The historical stages of human perception of gods/God- in terms of
animal life, blood sacrifice, the cosmos, and humanity.
3. God and the Bible- no divine revelation.
4. Human origins in animal reality.
5. The projection of the animal onto God.
6. God and testosterone- God becoming male.
7. Separation from God- the Persian prophet Zoroaster and the origins of
Fall/salvation mythology.
8. God as religious- organizing and mediating God.
9. The origin of sin.
10. God as horizontal- no domination.
11. God and law- no one under law.
12. God and freedom- no predetermined existence, the power to love.
13. The commonness of God- the origins of holiness/purity theology in
Fall mythology and locating transcendence in ordinary human activity.
14. God as spirit- Mind or Consciousness and the greater reality.
15. God and death- rethinking death aside from the Fall.
16. It gets much better- the rising and advancing trajectory of life.
Click here
to read an excerpt from the book
